When Obamacare became law in 2010, the overwhelming response of the Republican party was “Repeal Obamacare”. It was Obamacare, coupled with the Obama’s Economic Stimulus (borrow and print) Plan, that caused voters to reject President Obama’s agenda. The 2010 mid-term elections returned control of the U.S. House back to Republicans in order to prevent Obama from further transforming America into a socialist nation. Our own congressman, Greg Walden, benefited from this shift in power and was promoted to U.S. House leadership, where he echoed the “Repeal Obamacare” mantra as he traveled Oregon’s 2nd congressional district.

In 2012 Mitt Romney led the charge against Obamacare with the slogan “Repeal and Replace”. The idea was that Obamacare was bad, but Republicans needed to be seen as the party with a better idea, and not just return the health insurance system back to the broken system before Obamacare. Congressman Walden stood alongside Romney, encouraging everyone in the district to join him to fight Obamacare and to replace it with a better, Republican health insurance plan. Leading up to the 2014 mid-terms Congressman Walden ran campaign ads asking for online donations to “Fight Obamacare”.

This all sounds so good, and that’s why I’m worried — and you should be too. Are we victims of the old “bait and switch” tactic?

Today in 2015, there are no claims for “Repeal Obamacare” or even “Repeal and Replace” coming from Republican leadership. Instead you can read for yourself what the fight against Obamacare has turned into — fixing Obamacare. Congressman Walden just concluded a seven county tour of the northern part of the district. Walden’s message was that Congress is working hard to fix the bad parts of Obamacare. Unfortunately this idea of fixing Obamacare misses the point that ALL of Obamacare is bad, not just parts of it. But this is the new position that the Republican party has quickly adopted, and hoping that you don’t notice.

The unfortunate fact is that in 2010 Republican leadership was never serious about repealing or replacing Obamacare. The Republicans have controlled the U.S. House since 2010. This means that since 2010 Republicans have authorized every Federal dollar spent. Think about that for a moment. While the Republicans have whined about Obama’s agenda, they have also authorized the funding of Obama’s agenda. Is this what you wanted when Republican’s took control of the House in 2010? The Republican party had several opportunities to defund Obamacare — stopping its implementation. What’s more, the Republicans have done nothing but complain about the Obama administration changing the new healthcare law by executive fiat. What we see is lot of complaining, so that we think they are “working hard” for us, but in return for our campaign contributions and votes there has been no real or effective action.

Instead our Republican led House, who were put in office to repeal this disastrous law, have been fully funding it year after year. This is like if I were to proclaim, “I detest the mascot of the NFL Football team in Washington D.C. — the Redskins. I find the term Redskin offensive and that it is promoted week after week on television. It is a racial slur against a very proud people who are an important part of our national heritage.” But then on Sunday you see me wearing a Washington Redskins jersey, with Redskin flags waving from my car as I drive by, yelling out the window “Redskins Nation!” What would you think about me then? Would you believe my words, or believe my actions? The same is true for our congressman and the people he travels with — what effects us, what we should only be concerned about are his actions, not his words.

Time and time again Congressman Walden has said the right thing, “Help me Fight Obamacare” and then done the wrong thing by voting to fully fund Obamacare. In addition, Walden continues to vote for John Boehner as Speaker of the House, who by any standard is a weak leader and has been ineffective in stopping President Obama’s agenda to socialize America.

The current Republican leadership in the House has never been serious about repealing Obamacare. Instead they saw it as a great fund-raising opportunity from the base of the party. So while Walden and Company talk tough (and then ask for a donation to help the cause), their voting record exposes them as the worst kind of representatives — politicians, who are far more concerned about their power than the welfare of the people they represent.